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Crest for Henry V

This funerary achievement crest is part of a larger project in conjunction with Westminster Abbey and Tobias Capwell of the Wallace Collection. We approached this project using historical methods of construction suggested from the Italian artist Cennini in his book “Il Libro dell’ Arte” (The Craftsman Handbook).

This construction method describes building a crest from shaped halves of leather sewn together and left to dry. The surface details are then applied by either gesso grosso or in this case applied leather details. Finally the crest is leafed. This project used a copper alloy (bronze) for the leafing. The mantle was hand sewn and painted with ermine tails on the interior. The tassel is made of metallic thread and finished with a ‘turk’s head’ knot.